


Captain of the Guard

by unofficialNEET



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Canonical Character Death, Good Parent Grisha, M/M, Prince Eren Yeager, Rating will change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-06
Updated: 2018-07-03
Packaged: 2018-07-21 21:31:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7405576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unofficialNEET/pseuds/unofficialNEET
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which the Crown Prince is left in the protection of the Captain of the Guard.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

He didn’t know exactly what he was going to do. He didn’t have a plan. Hell, when did he ever? But as Eren ran down the hallway, he decided that this time was different. This time, he was probably going to get himself into trouble. Serious trouble, nothing like the lectures he got for frequently sneaking into town without any protection.

He prayed that they couldn’t hear his approach through the heavy doors of the conference room. The sounds of the soles of his shoes beating across the marble floor were echoing down the long hallway. He prayed that when he rounded the corner to make the final dash to the door, there would be no guards stationed outside. He prayed -

Oh, what difference could it make, really?

His parents were in that room meeting with a representative from the Sina kingdom. It was all he had heard about all morning. The maids had gossiped about it when they thought he wasn’t listening, but he’d gotten an earful. He’d even heard a few of the cooks discussing it as well. Rumor had it that his parents were meeting with this official to discuss a possible marriage alliance between their two kingdoms. He couldn’t believe his ears! An arranged marriage in this day and age? Really? Like hell he was going to take that sitting down. His parents hadn’t even mentioned it to him. In fact, neither of his parents had ever skirted close to the topic of Eren’s future spouse. Sure, Eren was going to be the next ruler of the Kingdom of Maria, but he was only nineteen.

If he remembered correctly, he’d met Historia, the princess of Sina, before at one of the more formal functions that his parents forced him to attend. She was certainly beautiful, with her blond hair and crystal-blue eyes, but she wasn’t his type.

Not even close.

Which is why he was now making his way towards the conference room to tell them exactly why this arranged marriage couldn’t possibly work.

He rounded the corner and immediately felt relief wash over him when he saw that the entrance was clear of any obstacles. Having to explain himself to guards would take way too long, and he didn’t want to waste precious time. He couldn’t bear the thought of his parents striking a deal before he managed to say what he needed to say.

When he reached the doors, he threw both of them open at once and stepped inside, taking in the scene before him.

His father, King Grisha Jaeger of Maria, sat at the head of the table, his mother, Queen Carla, to his left and his advisor, Keith Shadis, to his right. At the other head sat who Eren assumed to be the Sina official. He was somewhat familiar, and Eren was sure that he should remember the man’s name, but he just couldn’t place it. Two other men that Eren didn’t recognize flanked the official. All three wore navy blazers with Sina’s crest stitched over their hearts. While the three neighboring kingdoms of Maria, Rose and Sina all had similar crests composed of shields and the profile portrait of one of the three legendary goddesses, they all different just slightly in color and design.

The room was silent as everyone’s eyes landed on Eren, who was struggling to catch his breath. The thick doors swung shut behind him with a resonating _thud_.

His mother was the first to break the silence. “Eren, are you okay?”

Eren found himself shaking his head, but the words had escaped him. How had he decided he was going to play this? Oh, right. He hadn’t come up with a plan.

“Son, I’m going to have to ask you to make this quick. We have a lot to discuss today and not much time to do it,” his father spoke up.

Eren panicked. He couldn’t let himself be dismissed so quickly. He had to put a stop to whatever deal that they were making in exchange for his hand. “But…”

“But what, Eren? Your mother and I are a little busy right now.”

Oh shit, it was time. “I’m gay!” Eren exclaimed.

The silence returned. Eren could practically hear his heart pounding in his chest. He’d done it. He’d admitted it. One part of him was relieved to have finally shoved that weight off of his chest. He’d dreaded informing his parents that it would be difficult for him to carry on the Jaeger family bloodline. The other part of him was paralyzed with the fear that his parents would reject him for it.

His gaze flickered over to the Sina official, whose eyes were wide with surprise. His associates had the same look of shock on their faces. Shadis always had a pretty severe look on his face, so it was difficult to tell if he was surprised or not. When Eren brought his attention back to his own parents, he expected the same emotions present on their faces as well, but instead he was met with calm expressions. They shared a knowing look before turning back to Eren.

“Alright, sweetheart,” his mother said slowly, “but we’re in the middle of a very important meeting right now. Can we talk more about this later?”

“That’s it? That’s all you have to say?”

“Well, we had our suspicions,” the Queen admitted.

“But doesn’t this change anything?” The Crown Prince asked desperately.

Now his father looked confused. “What would it change?”

“The...My…I heard that this meeting was about an arranged marriage.”

“Wherever did you hear a silly thing like that?” Carla laughed. “We’re discussing trade matters, dear. And why would we ever make a decision like that without your say?”

Eren didn’t know what to say, so he just settled for the first thing that came to mind. “Oh.”

“Is that all, Eren?” The King asked him.

“Yes, sir,” he mumbled in reply. “Sorry, sir.”

Eren didn’t even wait for his father to respond. Instead, he turned right around and ran right back down the hallway, feeling one part relieved and two parts embarrassed.

He decided that that was the last time he was ever going to trust the palace gossip.


	2. Chapter 2

Eren groaned into the cushion. He was facedown on one of the couches in what his family had dubbed “the playroom” long ago when it had housed all of Eren’s toys. The toys were long gone, but the name still stuck. Now, it was more like a hang-out room with lots of seating, a huge flat-screen TV for movies as well as a few of Eren’s game consoles.

Mikasa sat on a chair to his left, fiddling with the tassels on the ends of the red scarf that Eren had given her for her birthday years ago. Eren thought of her as his sister. Her parents had served on the palace staff, and when Mikasa and Eren first met when they were eight years old, they had hit it off immediately. A year or so later, however, both of her parents were killed in a car accident. With no other close living relatives, Mikasa was alone. That is, until his parents decided that they would take her in as their ward. Eren was thrilled, to say the least. He couldn’t imagine one of his only friends being sent away or put into foster care.

He didn’t have many other friends his age to play with growing up, save for his best friend Armin. Armin’s grandfather also worked in the palace before his death a few years before. Now, Armin held the position of Eren’s advisor of sorts.

Armin was sitting across from Eren. Both he and Mikasa watched as Eren seemed to dissolve into the couch. At least, that’s what he wanted to do. He was wishing he were invisible, that he would never have to face a single soul that was in that conference room again. There was no way he was ever going to live that little outburst down.

“What’s got you in a mood?” Mikasa asked after a few minutes.

The couch cushion muffled the response she received.

“Eren, we can’t understand you,” she sighed.

He turned his head so he was looking at them and sighed. “I may or may not have just told Mom and Dad that I’m gay.”

“What? That’s great, Eren! I know you’ve been stressing about that for a while,” Armin smiled for a moment, but then it faltered. “That’s great, unless… They took it well, didn’t they?”

“They didn’t seem surprised at all, but that’s not the point!” Eren muttered. “I heard the maids gossiping about a supposed arranged marriage between myself and the princess of Sina. So, me being the brilliant individual that I am, I decided to-“

“You didn’t!” Armin gasped before he could finish his sentence, his blue eyes bigger than he’d ever seen them.

“I _did_!” Eren shrieked. “Right in front of the official from Sina. And you know what they were discussing at this conference? Trade!”

“I could’ve told you that,” Armin told him.

“Well, if I had thought to ask you, Armin, then I wouldn’t be in this mess, now would I?” Eren snapped before pressing his face back into the cushion and releasing a frustrated scream.

“If it helps, I don’t think your dad will be as upset about the interruption as you think,” Armin offered, running a hand through his blond hair.

“Why?” Eren asked, finally sitting up.

“Well, you announced it to everyone in the conference room, right? Shadis, Mr. Dok and his companions?”

“Yes…” Eren nodded. Dok? Oh, Nile Dok! That was the Sina official’s name, but he wasn’t quite sure where Armin’s train of thought was heading.

Apparently, Mikasa understood perfectly. “You already embarrassed yourself enough, Eren.”

“Mikasa!” Armin chided. “I was going to try and word it lightly.”

She shrugged. “We’re having dinner with that official tonight, aren’t we? That’ll be punishment enough.”

Eren’s shoulders slumped. “Oh, fuck. I forgot. You’re absolutely right.”

 

Dinner was awkward, to say the least. It was obvious that Nile Dok and his associates were actively trying to avoid looking directly at Eren. Shadis, who had joined them for dinner despite usually eating in his quarters, on the other hand, couldn’t seem to look anywhere but at him. Eren found that both extremes were slightly unnerving.

His parents didn’t seem to notice. Either that or they were pretending that it wasn’t happening. He hadn’t gotten the chance to speak with them before dinner; the meeting had lasted up until just a few moments before dinner even started. Instead, they were acting as if nothing had happened, carrying on some conversation about how excited they were to be traveling to Sina in a about a month for their annual May Day festival. The celebration of May Day was something particularly special to Sina for one reason or another that Eren wasn’t too sure about, but his parents went to the ball held by the Sina’s royal family every year.

He’d never attended, mostly due to his lessons, but since they had ended the year before he wondered if he would be required to attend. At some point, of course, he would have to start going to most of the balls and meetings that his parents attended. But he was hoping, since the day that he would take the throne was so far off, that he wouldn’t have to start that anytime soon.

Mikasa was sitting next to him, calm and stoic as always. Armin had been invited to dinner, too, and it seemed like he was the only one who could feel the tension that Eren was experiencing.

It was only after dinner that he was finally called into his father’s study. There he found his father seated at his grandiose mahogany desk, flipping through some papers, while his mother lounged in one of the many armchairs. They both looked up as Eren quietly shut the door behind him.

“So, Eren,” his father began. “Care to explain what occurred this afternoon?”

Eren cast his eyes towards the ground and wrung his hands nervously. “I, uh… See, I heard a rumor. You know, about the arranged marriage thing. And I figured, uh, that I should just give you guys a quick heads up about…well, about the fact that me marrying some princess wouldn’t really, um, work out.”

The King sighed. “Eren-”

“I know! I know, it was a bad decision. I’m sorry for embarrassing you in front of Mr. Dok and the other people from Sina.”

“You didn’t embarrass us, Eren. Interrupt a somewhat important meeting, yes. Embarrass us, no.”

“You guys aren’t embarrassed of me?”

“Honey, we love you no matter who you decide to love,” Carla told him with a soft, sweet smile as she stood up from her chair and wrapped her arms around Eren’s shoulders.

“She’s right,” his father said. “We love you. Just, next time, have a little faith that your mother and I aren’t going to force you into something like an arranged marriage.”

“I know, I’m sorry.”

“Alright, now that that’s settled, you’re dismissed. Goodnight, Eren. See you tomorrow,” the King smiled at him before returning to his papers. His dad was always holed up in his study doing work.

“Goodnight, sweetheart,” his mother grinned.

Eren made his way back to his own quarters with a smile on his face.


	3. Chapter 3

“I heard that since we’ve been in a state of peace for some time now, some of the military is being moved around,” a voice said in a hushed tone.

“That makes sense. King Grisha can’t just have them sit around doing nothing until we finally need them,” another voice replied.

“Chef Kitts told me that the Commander is coming by tomorrow for a meeting with the King to discuss the new positions.”

“You know what that means, don’t you?” The second voice asked excitedly.

“Duh! We’ll get to see some men in uniform!”

The two maids squealed quietly in excitement as they continued dusting the portraits hanging in the hallway, completely oblivious to the prince standing just around the corner.

Eren raised his eyebrows, surprised at the new rumor. He hadn’t heard his father mention any plans for military reassignment in peacetime. He’d have to ask Armin about it because, just like he had promised himself a few days prior, he wasn’t going to believe everything he heard in palace gossip. But he wouldn’t be opposed to a sudden influx of men in uniform around the capital of Maria, Shiganshina, either. Not that he would admit that to anyone but himself, of course.

He continued on his way, which happened to bring him past the two maids. They went silent as he walked past, but he heard them break out into giggles as soon as he was out of sight. Had the news of his outburst the other day made its way around the palace yet? He wondered if everyone knew. Not that he cared. Not that much, at least.

Eren was headed down the grand staircase to the first floor of the palace to make his way towards the garages where all of their cars were held. Armin was going to meet him there so that they could go into town today. He and Armin tried to spend a day in town at least once a week. Sometimes Mikasa tagged along, too. Honestly, there was only so much time you could spend in one place without getting bored, and the palace was no exception. Even Eren got sick of playing video games sometimes.

Armin was standing just inside the garage, eyes roaming across the key holder hanging on the wall. Behind him, leaning against a shiny black sports car, was a young man with a long face and a two-toned undercut. He wore typical bodyguard attire, a two-piece suit with a simple white button-down underneath. This was Jean, who happened to be Eren’s least favorite bodyguard.

There was a small group of guards assigned specifically to guard Eren on outings such as this one and they were always on rotation. This group was specifically chosen because they were around Eren’s age. Eren hated having guards around whenever he went into town, but he would have hated it even more if he had to put up with middle-aged men following him like his shadows. But there was no estimating his guards, even despite their young age – they were all able to apply for the position only because they were in the top of their military graduating class.

“Oh, come on, Armin! Do we really have to bring this guy?” Eren groaned, gesturing to Jean.

“Shut it, Jaeger,” Jean sneered. “I don’t want to be here babysitting your stupid ass, either.”

“Don’t worry, Connie is coming, too,” Armin responded, not even bothering to look their way. He reached over and picked up a key on a simple black key fob. “Wanna take the new one?”

“Well, I guess that makes it a bit better,” he huffed. “And sure, why not? Can I drive, though?”

“You know your father-“

“Hey, I’m bringing guards this time. I think he’d be happy enough about that to overlook the fact that I don’t want them chauffeuring me around today. And it’s not like anyone is going to tell him, anyways,” Eren said, pointedly shooting daggers at Jean, who promptly ignored him.

“Fine, fine,” Armin shrugged as he tossed the keys at Eren.

Connie came bounding in a minute later, buttoning his suit jacket and running a hand over his closely shaved head. He was probably the shortest guard on rotation, but there was no underestimating his strength. “Sorry I’m late! Sasha was teaching me how to make lemon squares in the kitchen.”

Sasha Braus was another one of the bodyguards assigned to protect Eren. She was definitely an interesting one, mainly because she always seemed to be munching on something. Eren had heard through the grapevine that her and Connie had been getting really close lately. That was one rumor that Eren knew was probably true.

Connie hopped in the backseat of the shiny SUV. “So, where are we going today?”

“We were thinking of going bowling,” Armin answered. “But we’re up for suggestions?”

“Bowling sounds fun! We haven’t done that in a while.”

“Anyone up for pizza afterwards?” Eren offered.

“That’s not a bad idea,” Jean agreed.

“Surprised?” Eren smirked.

“Dumbass.”

Eren ignored him and started the drive towards downtown Shiganshina. It wasn’t too far, but it was mostly downhill. The palace sat atop a pretty tall hill that overlooked the entire city.

They got to the bowling alley in one piece, despite some bickering along the way between none other than Eren and Jean. There wasn’t really a reason that they disliked each other so much, they just did. The first time Jean had ever met Eren, he’d called him a spoiled rich kid and really didn’t put forth any effort to try to get to know him at all. Eren started addressing him as “horse face” in response because, let’s face it, the guy had a long and very horse-like face. Their verbal insults had never escalated to physical blows, however, which was undoubtedly why Jean still had his job.

The bowling alley was next to empty, luckily. While they’d never really run into any trouble on any of their town outings, Eren enjoyed not being surrounded by people hoping to get a glance of the Crown Prince. It didn’t take long for Jean to check the perimeter while Eren and Armin paid for two games and everyone’s shoes. A little while later, when Connie went to grab a round of sodas for everyone and Jean stepped up for his turn to throw the ball towards the pins, Eren took the opportunity to ask Armin about the conversation he’d heard earlier that day.

“Hey, Armin. Can I ask you something?”

“Sure, what’s up?”

“I heard a rumor-”

“Really, Eren?” Armin gave him a look of disbelief, and he knew that Armin was thinking back to the meeting incident. He felt himself flush in embarrassment at the thought.

“Can we forget about that already? Anyways, I heard two maids say that my dad is meeting with the Commander tomorrow to talk about moving around military positions. They said that people were being moved because it was a time of peace so the military has nothing to do. Is that true?”

Armin thought for a moment. “I heard something about that. Yes, it’s true that the King is meeting with Commander Erwin tomorrow, but I have a hunch as to why things are changing. It may look like they’re moving everyone into peacetime positions, but I think there’s more to it than that. We might actually be strengthening our defenses, depending on who goes where. The King and Queen are going to be traveling soon and leaving their only son and heir behind in Shiganshina. Wouldn’t you want to put your best forces in place to protect him?”

“But why? They’ve never done this before, and I wasn’t aware that there were any current threats to Maria.”

 Armin shrugged. “We might not know of any, but I would bet that the King does. There would be no reason to do this otherwise.”

Eren nodded, processing all of this new information. It did make sense, but if there was a threat to Maria, why hadn’t his parents mentioned it?

“Hey, Jaeger, it’s your turn,” Jean said, pulling him from his thoughts.

“Yeah, yeah,” Eren waved him off, getting up and grabbing a bowling ball. Whatever the reason was, he decided, he would find out eventually.


	4. Chapter 4

“Your Majesty,” Commander Erwin Smith addressed King Grisha with a deep bow as soon as the door shut behind him.

The Commander shot a glance at the man at his side, who sighed and bowed as well. “Your Majesty.”

“Commander Smith, it’s been a long time. Sit down, sit down,” the King smiled warmly, gesturing to the two chairs directly in front of his desk. “And you must be Captain Levi Ackerman, I assume? It’s so nice to finally meet you.”

“The pleasure is mine,” Levi responded, stepping forward to shake the King’s hand before taking a seat.

“It has been too long, sir. I’m proud to say that there hasn’t been a situation that called for this in quite some time. It has been a good few years for Maria,” Erwin said, taking the seat beside Levi.

“I couldn’t agree more, Commander. I only wish for those good times to continue, for all of this to be nothing but speculation,” the King said in a grave tone, adjusting the glasses sitting on the bridge of his nose.

“We can only hope, your Majesty,” Erwin nodded. “Now, let us discuss the matters at hand.”

 

**************

 

“Captain of the Guard? Really? Why didn’t you tell me that on our way over here? I’m in the military to protect and defend Maria, not to house-sit the palace and babysit some brat while his parents are away.”

“Levi, please. Think of it as a mission, not a new position,” Erwin replied.

“It feels like a demotion,” Levi muttered. “Am I to keep up the palace, too? Since I’m house-sitting and all.”

“Don’t be difficult. No matter how much I know you’d enjoy scrubbing this place from top to bottom, I can assure you that the housekeepers tend to that every day. You should think of this job as an honor. You’re tasked with guarding the palace and our Crown Prince, our future King. He’s not a bad kid.”

“That’s exactly what he is: a kid! I’m basically a glorified babysitter,” Levi frowned. He almost felt bad for pouting, but he really wanted Erwin to change his mind. “If it’s such an honor, why don’t you do it, Erwin?”

Erwin ignored his last comment, addressing it only with a pointed look before continuing. “Oh, stop. That was a poor choice of words on my part; he’s actually nineteen. Besides, your squad will also be actively guarding him.”

“Tch. He’s nothing but a teenage brat, then.”

“Levi,” Erwin scolded. “Watch your tongue. One of these days, someone is going to hear you say the wrong thing and you’ll pay dearly for it.”

A young man turned the corner just a moment later, but Levi didn’t bother to give him so much as a glance until he noticed that Erwin had stopped dead in his tracks a step behind him.

“Your Highness,” Erwin said with a bow.

Levi looked up to study him, then. This was the brat that he was going to be in charge of protecting, after all. But damn, if he wasn’t the most beautiful brat that he’d ever seen. He was wearing a pair of slim fitting jeans, black boots and a grey shirt with its long sleeves rolled up to just below his elbows. He was tall; maybe not as tall as Erwin, but he definitely had at least five or six inches on Levi. His dark hair was messy, but it worked for him. In fact, it was kind of sexy. Levi found himself wondering what the Prince’s hair would look like if –

He mentally cursed himself. He would stop that thought right there, no matter how mesmerizing the Prince’s sparkling – green? No. Teal, perhaps? Levi couldn’t find a name to put to the color – eyes. No matter how soft his sun-kissed skin, how sharp his jaw…

“Levi?” Erwin’s hushed voice brought him back to reality.

“Hm?” Levi forced his features back into a neutral, almost bored expression. Damn, that brat had made him lose his composure for a moment there. He quickly realized his error and bowed slightly. “Your Highness.”

“You must be Commander Smith. I’ve heard a lot about you,” the Prince said, looking at Erwin. Was that appraisal that Levi could see in the brat’s eyes? It didn’t sit right with him. Why wasn’t he looking at Levi?

“Call me Erwin, your Highness. All good things, I hope,” Erwin smiled before gesturing towards Levi. “And this man here is Captain Levi Ackerman.”

Levi thought he saw a brief flash of recognition in the Prince’s eyes at his name, but he couldn’t be sure. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Captain Ackerman.”

“The pleasure is all mine.”

The Prince stared at him for a moment, emotions flickering across his face too fast for Levi to read. “I’m sure,” he eventually responded, his soft, pink lips turning downwards ever so slightly. “Well, I’m off to meet my father. Have a nice day, gentleman.”

“And you as well, Your Highness.”

“Oh, and Captain?” The Prince asked suddenly, turning to look at him. Something in his voice made the Captain cringe inwardly.

“Yes?”

“I’m so sorry to disappoint, but I’ll be turning twenty in a few days. It’s such a shame, too. ‘Teenage brat’ had such a ring to it, don’t you think?” There was no malice in his voice, but he was unable to mask his hurt.

With that, he walked away, leaving Levi staring after him with uncharacteristically wide eyes. The brat had broken his composure twice now, but all Levi could think was, _Oh, fuck. He heard everything, didn’t he?_ It wasn’t until a few seconds after the Prince had disappeared from sight that Erwin broke the tension-filled silence.

Erwin sighed. “I hate to say that I told you so, but I definitely told you so.”

“Fuck,” Levi said. “I don’t even know his name…”

 Erwin laughed. “Really, Levi? Even after the meeting with the King almost exclusively about Prince Eren?”

Eren. So that was his name. It had a nice ring to it, he supposed. Rolled right off the tongue. It would be such an easy name to scream out in the middle of-

Okay, that was the end of that. He’d just royally pissed off the Prince. He couldn’t just start fantasizing about him now, too.

“Whatever,” Levi muttered, continuing on their way back to the front door of the palace to take Erwin’s car back to the city. “I guess I’ll have to deal with it later.”

 

**************

 

“Please, Armin? I just want to casually walk by and see if we can see anything,” Eren begged.

“See anything as opposed to hear anything?” Armin laughed. “Why is that?”

Eren grinned. “Okay, I might have heard that the Commander is drop dead gorgeous…”

“So you want to see if you can catch a glimpse of him?” Armin finished.

“Of course! If we hear anything, that’ll be a bonus.”

Armin sighed. “I wish I could, Eren, but I have to make my way to the conference room in a few minutes for a meeting. Why don’t you ask Mikasa?”

“Mikasa’s out practicing archery in the yard,” Eren sighed. “I guess I’ll go by myself.”

Armin gave him an encouraging thumbs up as he headed out of the playroom. He was pretty sure that his father was holding this meeting in his study, so that’s the direction he decided to go. One flight of stairs and a hallway later, he stopped when he heard voices coming down the connecting hall.

“… every day. You should think of this job as an honor. You’re tasked with guarding the palace and our Crown Prince, our future King. He’s not a bad kid,” someone was saying. His voice was deep, and although he was speaking in a voice just above a whisper, it felt like his words were echoing down the hallway.

Eren back up a few steps further, not wanting to be caught eavesdropping on a conversation that seemed to be about him.

“That’s exactly what he is: a kid! I’m basically a glorified babysitter,” a second voice argued. He sounded irritated; he wasn’t trying to keep his voice down at all. “If it’s such an honor, why don’t you do it, Erwin?”

Ah, so the deep voice belonged to Commander Smith. He was going to get a glimpse of the man that had all of the palace maids in a tizzy, after all. Who was the man talking to? He seemed like he was trying to reason with him about something. Did this have to do with the meeting?

“Oh, stop. That was a poor choice of words on my part; he’s actually nineteen. Besides, your squad will also be actively guarding him,” Erwin informed the man.

“Tch. He’s nothing but a teenage brat, then,” the second voice decided.

Wait, his own personal guard group was going to be changed? Was it now going to include this man, who was judging him based off of his age? He’d never even met Eren!

“Levi,” Erwin scolded. “Watch your tongue. One of these days, someone is going to hear you say the wrong thing and you’ll pay dearly for it.”

_Wise words, Commander Smith_ , Eren thought. It was time to make his appearance. He picked his feet back up again, trying to regain his composure as he rounded the corner. His targets were straight ahead.

His eyes fixed on the taller man, and he knew that the rumors about Commander Smith’s looks were true. He was taller than Eren, standing well above six feet, and had this authoritative air about him. His dark grey suit fit him well in all the right places, hugging the curves of his biceps and the sculpt of his chest. His blond hair was parted neatly and tucked to the side but the underside was shaved close to his head. Eren assumed it was a military thing, thinking of Jean.

As soon as their eyes met, Erwin stopped and bowed. “Your Highness.”

His companion, however, took a moment to realize what was going on. He looked from Erwin to Eren before bowing as well. “Your Highness,” the man said, although he didn’t sound too thrilled about it. Although Eren could feel the man’s eyes on him, Eren kept his eyes focused on Erwin.

“You must be Commander Smith. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Call me Erwin, your Highness. All good things, I hope,” Erwin responded with a smile that could easily belong on the cover of a magazine. He gestured to the man beside him. “And this man here is Captain Levi Ackerman.”

He knew that name. Or, rather, he was very familiar with the stories associated with that name, or “Humanity’s Strongest”, as many called him. When Maria had assisted the neighboring Kingdom of Rose in their war against Titania, Levi and his team had almost single-handedly won quite a number of battles, helping to eventually secure victory.

Eren finally allowed himself to acknowledge the man. The Captain was shorter than he had expected. His suit jacket was thrown casually over his shoulders, and a silky piece of fabric draped over the collar of his dress shirt in place of a tie. His inky black hair was parted just off center, framing his face and, in some places, falling into his eyes. Like Erwin, this man also had an undercut. His eyes were a striking silver, to say the least, only accentuated by the slight dark circles under his eyes. There was something delicate about his features, despite the sharp, angular lines of his face. None of the stories that he had heard of the man, Eren realized, ever mentioned just how beautiful he was. It was a more unique kind of beauty than Erwin possessed, but it was hypnotic nonetheless.

Which really sucked because the guy seemed like a total dick.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Captain Ackerman.”

“The pleasure is all mine,” the Captain answered immediately.

_Uh-huh_. “I’m sure,” Eren said, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. “Well, I’m off to meet my father. Have a nice day, gentleman.”

“And you as well, Your Highness,” Erwin smiled.

Eren walked past them, but stopped after a moment. He couldn’t bring himself to let the Captain’s comments go without so much as a word. He turned around. “Oh, and Captain?”

“Yes?” Captain Levi replied, turning around.

“I’m so sorry to disappoint, but I’ll be turning twenty in a few days. It’s such a shame, too. ‘Teenage brat’ had such a ring to it, don’t you think?”

He tried to hide how much that comment had hurt, but he doubted that he was successful; he’d never been good at hiding his emotions, no matter how much he wished he was. Instead, he turned and immediately walked away, trying to hide how red he assumed his face was.

That guy was no better than Jean. Yeah, Eren was a young. Yeah, he was the Prince. So what? Why did everyone always take that information and assume that there wasn’t anything more to him?


	5. Chapter 5

“I’m sorry, what?” It took all of Eren’s control to keep from screaming. He must not be hearing right.

“Captain Levi will be taking the position of Captain of the Guard.”

“But…but what about Hannes?”

“Don’t worry, Eren. These arrangements won’t last forever. Hannes will stay on as a guard, of course,” his father replied. He hadn’t even glanced up from his paperwork once to look at Eren.

“And what of my current guards in rotation?”

“Eren,” the King sighed, finally looking up. “What are you so worked up about? They will still be around, I’m sure.”

“It’s nothing,” Eren decided. He wasn’t going to waste his father’s time whining about Levi. That would be a petty, childish move on his part, and he certainly didn’t want to prove Levi right. “I’m sorry. I’ll see you at dinner.”

“Eren, before you go. Was there anything special that you wanted to do for your birthday? I know that you told your mother that you didn’t want a party, but surely there is something you’d like to do to celebrate?”

Eren shrugged. “Not really.”

“Okay. See you at dinner, then.”

Eren made his way back to his room and flopped down on his bed, trying to process what his father had just told him. Captain Levi was going to be the new Captain of the Guard. That must’ve been why he had been there the day before. That position… that meant that he was going to be in charge of all the guards in the palace, the head of security. Did that mean that he would be taking Hannes’ quarters, too? Hannes didn’t stay in the staff wing. Instead, he had a suite in between the wings that housed the staff quarters and the royal quarters for ease of convenience. That would mean that Levi would be way too close for Eren’s liking. He would much rather Erwin be taking up the position.

 

**************

 

There was an entire wing of the palace that housed its staff, from the maids to the guards. This is where Levi’s squad, as well as a few other soldiers, would be staying.

Apparently, being Captain of the Guard meant that he’d be getting nicer quarters. Levi definitely wasn’t complaining about that.

As he set two of his bags on the floor and looked about the main living area of his new suite, he decided that he would spend the entire rest of the day cleaning. The maids had done an impeccable job according to most people’s standards, he was sure, but he knew he wouldn’t be content until it was up to _his_ standards. Basically, that meant that he would scrub the place himself.  His duties as Captain of the Guard wouldn’t start until the next day, anyways.

He’d begin by introducing himself to the guards already stationed at the palace along with his expectations. From what he’d heard of Hannes, the previous Captain of the Guard, the man was pretty relaxed about things. It was somewhat understandable; there hadn’t been a threat to Maria in years.

But now there was a possible threat looming on the horizon. The King and the Queen were going to travel soon, as they always did, but this time was different. This time, Intel told them of rumors that Titania was to make its move against Maria soon. However, Maria’s army had already proved strong enough to defeat them once. This time, they would bypass a confrontational battle and move to take the capital and the palace. This was Erwin’s theory, and being the incredible strategist that he was, Levi didn’t doubt the man for a minute.

Instead of canceling the yearly journey to Sina, Erwin and King Grisha had decided to set up their defenses in a more covert way. They couldn’t let the Titans know that they were onto them, of course. And so, the plan that landed Levi in the castle was born.

He hadn’t been pleased when Erwin told him of this plan. Hell, he _still_ couldn’t say that he was necessarily pleased about it. But thinking back to the previous day and his interaction with Prince Eren, he thought that maybe it wouldn’t be as bad as he thought. It might actually be entertaining, putting up with the brat.

Levi spent the evening cleaning until the place sparkled, as expected, and then went to bed early to be well rested for his first day on the job. He woke around six in the morning, went for a run around the palace grounds and then headed towards the training fields on the far end of the grounds where all of the palace guards (save for the ones that were currently on duty) were gathered.

In total, the palace guard was about a hundred strong. It functioned as a well-oiled machine. Basically, the entire system worked on rotations. The regular guard cycled between actively patrolling, being stationed at specific checkpoints, training and having free time. This kept the guards well rested and less… well, bored. The teams specifically assigned to guard the members of the royal family, however, took turns watching and protecting their assignment. The rest of their time was divided up between training and free time.

Levi introduced himself to Hannes, the man formerly in his position, as well as the regular palace guard. Then he moved onto Eren’s security. His group of assigned guards consisted of seven young but capable people.

Reiner was a tall, broad and muscular man with close-cropped blond hair. Bertolt was even taller, and if Levi had to guess, he easily surpassed even Erwin in height. Annie had severe features and a perpetual frown. Sasha obviously loved food; she had been snacking on a potato throughout the entire meeting. Connie had a closely shaved head and a huge personality. Marco had a light dusting of freckles across his nose and a warm smile. Jean had a long face, two-toned hair and eyes that kept flickering in Marco’s direction.

He introduced the seven to the four that would be joining them in the rotation, formerly the Special Operations Squad that Levi headed in the military. Petra, a kind, petite strawberry blonde, greeted the young guards kindly. Oluo, a man that looked far older than he actually was and had a nasty habit of accidentally biting his tongue, tried to appear uninterested in the whole ordeal, but Levi could tell that he was mildly excited about a new mission after so much downtime. The two other squad members, Eld, the squad’s second in command that always seemed to wear a serious expression, and Gunther, who was always prepared for a fight, smiled politely and listened to their captain speak.

The way that Levi was going to set up the rotation would go like so: anytime Eren ventured outside of the palace, he would now be accompanied by three guards. Two of these guards would be from the original rotation while the other would be a member of Levi’s squad or Levi himself.

In addition, Mikasa would be accompanied by two guards instead of one if she left the palace, and those guards would come from Eren’s assigned group instead of the usual guard or two that accompanied Mikasa. While she was not the heir to the throne or actually related to the royal family, she was their ward and could definitely be considered a worthy hostage to someone who wanted to cause some damage to the family, especially considering that she was so close with Eren.

Now that was a relationship that Levi had no clue about. Mikasa was the King’s ward, kind of like an unofficial adopted child. From what little Levi knew, she was fiercely protective of Eren. He wondered if they thought of each other as siblings, or maybe something more?

After addressing the guards and discussing the new rotations and plans, Levi retired to his suite for the night. He would be in charge of a training session the next morning. The next afternoon, however, he would have his first shift on guard duty for the Prince. He wasn’t sure if he was dreading it or looking forward to it. He hadn’t seen Eren since their first encounter in the hallway. Would the Prince ignore him? Be angry with him? Pretend like nothing had happened?

Levi would just have to wait and see.


End file.
